


Beautiful

by octothorpetopus



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Aged-Up Losers Club (IT), Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier Are Best Friends, Bill Denbrough & Eddie Kaspbrak Are Best Friends, Boys In Love, Canon Compliant, Childhood Trauma, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak-centric, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier-centric, Friends to Lovers, Gen, I'm a damn clown, IT (2017)-compliant, Idiots in Love, Losers Club (IT) Friendship, Love Confessions, M/M, Oblivious Richie Tozier, Richie Tozier Being an Asshole, Richie Tozier Flirts, Sad Eddie Kaspbrak, Soft and gay, Somehow, Teenage Losers Club (IT), Unnecessary Eye Imagery, Young Love, but we also don't really give a fuck, probably angsty as shit, so it's fine, wow can't believe I've never written reddie before, yeah we all know it won't be canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-19 12:28:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20209750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/octothorpetopus/pseuds/octothorpetopus
Summary: The summer before the Losers leave Derry, they've all got their own reasons to want to go. Leaving their childhood traumas behind, starting over in a new place, a better place. But before they scatter across the map, with no notion of when they might see each other again, there's still things to be said, and perhaps, a few last memories to be made before they're lost to the world.





	Beautiful

Richie got tall.

That was the first thing Eddie realized as his bike rolled to a stop halfway across the Kissing Bridge. Richie, who had stood at a fair, but average five-foot-ten up until a couple of months ago, had shot up nearly six inches. What Eddie might have described as lankiness, a beanstalk with freckles, had somehow transformed into gracefulness, almost elegance, a word that Eddie ceased to use the minute Richie opened his mouth.

"Hey, Eds." Eddie tried to scowl and look disapproving, but failed. Richie reached out one skinny arm and pulled Eddie into a tight hug. His bony shoulder poked Eddie's side as he spun Eddie around, literally sweeping him off his feet.

"Don't... call... me...that," Eddie grunted, struggling to get the words out as Richie squeezed him tighter and tighter.

"You love it," Richie said as he finally let go.

The second thing Eddie noticed was that the freckles that had so starkly dotted Richie's face and arms in all the years they had know each other had faded into a heavy, even tan. Work at his uncle’s construction company had taken care of him, that’s for sure.

”Am I the first one here?” Eddie asked, looking around. Richie resumed his position leaning jauntily against the fence, casting a shadow over the hundreds, possibly thousands of initials carved into the side.

"Bill's swinging by the synagogue to get Stan- his dad's barely let him out of his sight all summer- and then they'll head straight over. Mike's heading over after work. Ben's working on something at the library, but his mom said she'd call him. 'Til then, it's just you and me, Eddie Spaghetti." Richie kicked absently at a pebble on the road. "I called Bev," he said after a moment, still staring at the ground. "Thought maybe she'd be able to drive back, just for a week or so, one last adventure, but, uh, her school's already started. 'S too bad. She's the only one of you morons smarter than me." Eddie laughed, his dimpled cheeks rosy with sunburn and amusement. Sometime, a long, long time ago, he probably would have argued with Richie over that. Or anything else. But a little childhood trauma can really put a lot of things in perspective, including their stupid, albeit enjoyable arguing.

"That sucks. I would've liked to see her again before we all leave Derry."

"We'll see her again. Probably at her and Bill's inevitable wedding." Richie snorted at his own joke. Before Eddie could reply with a snarky retort of his own, they heard the bell of another bike approaching. Bill and Stan had apparently met up with Mike and Ben on their way over, and now all four of them pulled to a stop, leaning their bikes against the rail alongside Richie and Eddie's. There were greetings and hugs and fist-bumps and smiles all around.

"So, Richie, now that you've g-got us all h-h-here-" Bill stammered, throwing an arm around Stan's and Ben's shoulders. "-what's y-your gr-grand p-pl-plan?"

"I thought we'd go out to the quarry one last time. For sentimentality's sake or whatever."

"Haven't done that in a long time. Hanging out with a bunch of dudes in their tighty-whities is no longer my idea of a good time." Stan folded his arms and raised his eyebrows skeptically.

"So, what, you're not coming?" Stan cracked a grin.

"Didn't say that."

As they set off towards the quarry, Eddie let out a sigh of relief he didn't even know he'd been holding, and thanked God that Richie hadn't noticed the _R + E _carved into the wood not six inches from where his ass rested against the railing.

The six of them stood at the edge of the cliff, staring down into the same green water they had stared into what seemed like a decade ago, except Beverly had been replaced by Mike in this instance. Each of them hawked a loogie over the side, watching them drop out of sight.

"I win," Eddie and Richie said in unison.

"Are you serious? Mine was way bigger." Richie squinted over at Eddie through his thick glasses. His black hair was a windblown mess, and Eddie loved him for it.

"Yeah, well, weren't you the one who told me it's distance, not mass?" They were standing so close their dangling hands could have touched. Eddie wished they would.

"So..." Mike trailed off, shifting nervously from foot to foot. "Who's first?" Without saying anything, without so much as thinking about it, Eddie jumped, arms windmilling in the air as he fell. He wasn't sure why he jumped, just that he'd seen the look in Richie's dark gray eyes, that look that said _I'll do it if you will, _and then he was jumping and then he was falling and then he was four feet underwater, his heart pounding like a bass drum. Something- someone splashed into the water next to him. As he rose to the surface, he turned and met Richie's eyes, those gray eyes. There wasn't nearly enough romanticizing about gray eyes, Eddie decided. There was all that bullshit about blue eyes and green eyes and brown eyes, but no one ever talked about how gray eyes could look like bonfire smoke and polished silver and the ocean with big, huge, crashing waves edged with white foam under a flat, cloudy sky.

Eddie's head broke the surface of the water and he gasped involuntarily, blinking water out of his eyes. Richie bobbed up next to him a moment later and pushed his hair out of his face, smiling wildly.

"You know," he shouted over the whoops and splashes of the others plunging in around them. "Three years ago, I would've had to push you over to get you to jump first."

"Maybe I went just so you wouldn't." Richie laughed and launched himself at Eddie, tackling him into the water.

_This is the perfect summer, _Eddie thought. _The summer I never dreamed I'd get. _

They played for hours in the shallow, clear water of the quarry. It came to a head with a call- no one was quite sure whose, although later, Eddie was pretty confident it was Richie- for a chicken fight. Eddie hated chicken fights, because he was the smallest, so he always lost. Still, he clambered up onto Ben's wide-set shoulders, staring down the other teams- Stan wobbled rather precariously on top of Mike and Richie used Bill's head as a balance, much to Bill's discomfort. The boys rushed at each other, pushing and pulling. Stan went down first, having never quite gotten his balance in the first place. Ben and Bill circled each other, their counterparts locked together in what felt like an epic battle, but looked like two dumbass seventeen year olds with spaghetti arms (although Richie less than usual- his uncle's construction company had, in fact, been good to him) pummeling each other and trading insults.

"I fucked your mother with more effort than you're giving me right now, Eds!"

"Your sister didn't seem to mind it!" They grappled for a few more minutes before finally, Eddie managed to topple Richie. As he fell, though, his eyes (god, those eyes. Eddie felt like he could stare into them forever) met Eddie's, and Eddie could swear that Richie _winked _at him. The bastard.

“In your face!” Eddie cheered as Ben dropped him next to Richie.

”Yeah, nice one, Ed.” There was a momentary sideways glance, a meeting of the eyes, and then it was gone, over, done.

As the sun finally began to sink in the August afternoon sky, Eddie and Richie sat side-by-side on the edge of the cliff, staring down at their friends, who still swam in the water below. Goosebumps ran up and down Eddie's bare chest and shoulders. He wrapped his arms around his knees and shivered despite the warm afternoon air. Richie was stretched out beside him, his long, tan legs dangling. He had pushed his dripping hair out of his face and it was drying there, a windblown, curly mess. His glasses were speckled with water. Eddie thought the golden sunlight lighting up his face made him look beautiful. Of all the words Eddie had used to describe Richie since falling in love with him that summer at fourteen, beautiful had never been one of them. Cute? Sure. Handsome? Maybe once or twice. But beautiful? Never.

"I leave for school next week." Richie interrupted Eddie's train of thought. "UC Berkeley. Still don't know how I got in there. I'm still thinking my dad might've bribed the admissions officer or something."

"You got in 'cause you're smart, Richie. Really, really smart. More than you give yourself credit for. And you're gonna grow up and be a super-famous actor or comedian or some shit, and you'll forget all about Derry..." The cheerful smile that had lit up Eddie's face slowly faded until it was nothing more than a suggestion at the corners of his lips. "...and about us." Richie fell uncharacteristically quiet for a moment, staring out into some unseen distance.

"I'll never forget you, Eds." For once, Eddie didn't correct him. Richie's voice was vulnerable, and when Eddie met his eyes, he looked... exposed, somehow. "You've been my best friend since we were eight and you hit Henry Bowers over the head with an encyclopedia to stop him from pummeling me. I couldn't forget you, not ever." He held out a hand, and without a thought, Eddie took it and squeezed. They smiled sadly at each other, and Eddie felt a tear drop, letting go only to wipe it away. "Where are you headed? I thought you'd take off right after graduation."

"I was, but then I just- I couldn't. My mom, y'know?" Eddie didn't mention that he had kissed his mother goodbye the day after graduation and taken off in his Mustang, the one he had saved up the last three years working at Mr. Keene's pharmacy to buy. Halfway across the Kissing Bridge he had stopped on a whim, using his father's old penknife to carve _R + E _into the weathered gray boards. He had run his fingers over the freshly carved letters for what seemed like hours, lingering on the blocky _R_. And then he got back in his car, turned around, and drove straight to the arcade to meet Richie. Richie had questioned briefly why Eddie's suitcase was in his backseat. Eddie had managed to cover with a bullshit story about a cancelled trip to Hawaii. Then he had gone home and unpacked and pretended like nothing had happened. "I'll go when the rest of you are gone. When there's no one else for me to beat at Omega Fighter. I think I'll go to New York."

"For school?"

"Maybe." Eddie laughed, and Richie gave him a puzzled smile. "For the first time, I don't know what my plan is. It's kinda nice."

"Sounds like it." Richie stared down at the water. "Still, you'll be in New York and I'll be in California... that's about as far apart as two people can get."

"Almost three thousand miles."

"Hey, Eddie?" Richie's voice wobbled, and his eyes were slightly teary. "I don't... I don't know when we're gonna see each other again. I really don't." Eddie lifted a hand hesitantly to brush away the tears that had begun to trickle down Richie's cheeks. Richie tilted his head, pressing his cheek gently into Eddie's palm. Eddie thought his head might explode. They were close, really close, and Eddie's hand was still cupping Richie's face and Eddie's face still felt like he had fallen headfirst into a bonfire.

"We'll see each other again, Rich." Eddie placed his other hand on Richie's other cheek. "We will," he insisted when Richie looked at him skeptically. "I'll come visit you next summer. Or- or maybe we'll both come back for Christmas and we'll see each other then, or Thanksgiving, or-"

"Okay, fine, I get it." Richie smiled tearfully. "Listen, Ed, I... I love you."

"Yeah, I know, Rich. I love you too." Eddie rolled his eyes and grinned, but Richie sobered.

"No, Eddie. I... I _love _you." Richie raised his eyebrows meaningfully and squeezed one of Eddie's hands, which was still resting on his cheek.

"I- oh. _Oh._" Eddie's eyes widened and suddenly he was fourteen again, squeezing Richie's hand as Richie snapped his broken arm back into place, squeezing Richie's blood-soaked hand as blood soaked through his cast, jumping up and down with his hands on Richie's shoulders as Richie beat the high score on Galaga. But despite the adrenaline coursing through him, he pulled back, trying his hardest not to have an asthma attack. He stifled a cough and inhaled slowly and shakily. "Richie, I- You're my best friend, Rich. My best friend in the whole world. And I've wanted to hear you say that for the last three years."

"But..."

"But I can't lose you." Richie's face lit up suddenly. He smiled, chuckling.

"You'll never lose me. Never. Get it through that pretty head of yours. I'm with you to the end of the line, Eddie my love. Friends or... whatever." And then Richie kissed him, and the whole world went white. Eddie rolled onto his knees so that he faced Richie, and pulled himself closer. Richie fell back on his elbows, pulling himself away. "You're really fuckin' beautiful, you know that?" Eddie smiled and fell onto his back next to Richie, who let himself down too so they were lying side-by-side, their knuckles brushing against each other.

"What if we just... left? What if we packed up our stuff and got in my car and left town tonight? I could drive you out to California and we could, I don't know-"

"Eddie." Richie slipped his hand into Eddie's. "I've got to go, and so do you. But I love you and you love me, and we'll remember each other, and we'll remember today, and that'll be enough."

"Hey, Richie?"

"Huh?"

"That was shockingly poetic. Kinda beautiful, actually." And neither one spoke for awhile, they just stared up at the sky. Blue was starting to fade into orange and purple, and the moon was partially visible through a thin film of clouds. A beautiful night with a beautiful boy. He'd be in New York in a week, and God only knew if he'd ever be back to Derry, but for now, he didn't want to think about the future. All he wanted to think about was the boy next to him in his tighty-whities, his thick glasses splattered with water, his crazy curls flared out around him, with his fingers knit with Eddie's.


End file.
